The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1887-12-01
$4,000, 600 WORTH OF GUM.
The Amount Yearly Chswed by Young
America

''You eat your gum; that's why you |
don't have the good out of it."
81 don't do anything of the kind. |
But I'm going to stop now, for it's get |
ting cold weather"
The remarks were made by two gay
addressed young women who were on
Brooklyn Bridge car this morning
and were chewing gum as if their lives
depended upon it The remark of the
last speaker suggested to a Nail and
Express reporter, who happened to
hear it, the inquiry whether there was
more chewing gum consumed in hot
weather than in cold. Not far from
the Brooklyn end of the big bridge he
found a chewing gum mandatory,
and to the proprietor propounded the
question.
YES" was the reply. sit is fact
that summer is the great gum chewing
time. Our busiest season begins in
March and ends about Oct. This sea-
son the business has been larger than
ever before, the quantity consumed
in this country being, should say, at
least 100000 pounds. Besides this,
chewing gum is now exported from
here to England, Australia, China and
| the Sandwich Islands. The total man
ufacture Of chewing gum per year in
this country is 5000, COO boxes. Each
box averages $50 pieces of gum. The
| pieces being sold for one cent each
would make the amount paid by the
American people for chewing gum 3d.
600, 900.
What is gum made OFF"
From the sap of a tree known as
| chico Zapote, which grows in South
| America, Mexico and Yucatan. Cuts
are made in the tree and the sap is
caught in buckets. 1t is allowed to
thicken and then made into balls and
cake. These are left to dry a short
time and are then packed in boxes.
| 1t is then carried on pack mules to the
| market, which is sometimes 800 miles
distant. The native Indians gather
the gum and take it to market. They
sell it to our agents for hard cash.
| The process of manufacture after ii
reaches here is first to melt it in fur
mace, then refine it, after which flaw
oring and sugar are mixed with it and
it is then ready to be rolled out and
cut up into pieces. For this latter
purpose the layers are spread out on
tables and allowed to dry about two
days. The cutting and other work is
done by machinery. For rolling il
and wrapping it in tinfoil we employ
$50 persons, all but fifty of whom are
girls"
Judging from your experience
what class of people are the greatest
gum chewers?"
Formerly children used to be the
chief consumers, but in the last three
years, since the roller skating rinB
craze began, adults have used il
more"
What has roller skating to do with
itP"
sin the rink the dust made by the
skaters makes the throat very dry, and
it was found that the gum relieved
this. OF course there are a great
many young women who chew the
gum simply because they like it, but
have noticed of late that men are tax
ing to it. l meet great many every
day who chew gum to break off the
tobacco chewing habit. There are
too, great many persons who WORK
better when chewing gum, and l know
plenty of men who can't figure will
any degree of satisfaction unless they
are chewing tobacco or gum. Bicycle
riders and base ball players otter
chew gum. It's an odd fact but yoU
can't 60 among any professional bass
ball club without finding half of the
members using this article. Their
VIM CACW u
merely for the sugar and the flavor
have seen men at game of ball OF
the races buy so cents worth of gun
and chew it up in an afternoon. o.
, late it has become quite the thing as &
preventive of seasickness."
'tDid you ever hear of animals chew
ing gumP"
cheWed gum. One was a large dog |,
a town near Boston, which, when SEE
ing person chewing gum, would 81
and beg for piece until he got it an
J hour or more. A case of a pug do
that chewed gum was reported recent
~ in q Louisville, KY, paper, and
) believe l read of a similar instance il
} the Mail and Express the other day
BY the way, heard good story of
young woman in relation to chewin
gum. She and two others were in
street car, and all three were mos
: busily engaged in conversation. Whe
: the conductor came for this youn
l woman's fare, without stopping he
/, talk or looking to see what she was dc
r ing, she opened her pocketbook an
quickly handed him out what sh
f thought was a nickel. Instead, how
ever, it was flattened piece of chew
/, | ing gum which she had carefully pU
away for future use. The conductor
d surprise and the young woman's mol
e LITIGATION sent an infectious smil
8 around the carr The latest novelty i
}. the chewing gum line is to wrap wit
each piece of gum a piece of paper o
which is printed the explanation {
some easy trick of parlor magic."-